There is no meaning difference between grey and gray —they’re simply two spellings of the same color between black and white.

Quick Scoop

  • Same color, different spelling: Both words describe the neutral color between black and white, and can be used as noun, adjective, or verb (e.g., “his hair is turning grey/gray”).
  • Region is the big divider:
    • US English: gray is the standard.
* UK (and much of the rest of the world): **grey** is more common.
  • Pronunciation: They’re pronounced the same, so you can’t hear a difference in speech.
  • Phrases and forms follow the same rule:
    • US: gray area , graying hair.
* UK: _grey area_ , _greying hair_.

Mini FAQ

So which should I use?

  • If you write mainly for an American audience, stick with gray.
  • If your readers are in the UK or other Commonwealth countries, use grey.
  • In casual online writing, most people just choose the version that looks right to them, and both are widely understood.

One easy memory trick:

  • “grAy ” has an A like “AmericA.”
  • “grEy ” has an E like “England.”

Little usage quirks

Most of the time, you can swap them freely, but a few proper nouns are fixed:

  • Animal names: gray whale is the standard spelling in English, even outside the US.
  • Scientific terms: both gray matter and grey matter appear, but each region tends to prefer its usual spelling.

Forum-style take

“what's the difference between grey and gray?” Pretty much just where you’re writing from: the US goes with gray , the UK with grey , and everyone understands both. The color itself doesn’t change—only the spelling does.

TL;DR: The difference between grey and gray is spelling convention, not meaning: same color, different region.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.